Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life

Reviewed by:

G. Connor Salter, Professional Writing alumnus from Taylor University, Upland, IN.

Title:

Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life

Author:

Makoto Fujimura (foreword by Mark Labberton)

Publisher:

InterVarsity Press

Publication Date:

January 14, 2017

Format:

Paperback

Length:

160 pages

OVERVIEW

Cultures need to be more than maintained; they must be nourished. Since everyone on some level makes and partakes of cultural products, this means, as Makoto Fujimura writes in an early chapter, “culture care is for everyone.” Fujimura leads readers through principles that cultivate beauty, passion, and communal relationships. He particularly considers how artists (storytellers, painters, etc.) can follow these principles, but always emphasizes that making good culture is a communal activity. He also notes the need for artists who now how to live in both Christian and secular contexts, who can go back and between different cultures and create bridges. In doing so, he shows Christians how to move from a culture war mentality to something healthier, more holistic and nourishing.

Fujimura is not only a writer, but also a painter. As such, he’s had to deal with many of the practical and philosophical struggles he describes. This is particularly true when he talks about living in the thin space between multiple cultures, a role he’s played both as an artist and as someone who is Japanese-American. As a result, the book keeps a good balance between the philosophical and the practical. Fujimura considers many big ideas and uses some scholarly research, but he never becomes too abstract. The result is a book with both great applications and highly perceptive insights.

A wonderful look at how to faithfully practice community, art and faith.

ASSESSMENT

Rating (1 to 5 stars)

5 stars

Suggested Audience

Christians interested in the arts or how to develop churches that support artists as well as everyone else.

Christian Impact

Fujimura goes above many of the little concerns American Christians have about good art to focus on the big question: how do you create a vision for doing art in a way that honors God and also build art-loving communities that honor God? By describing what that vision can look like, Fujimura empowers believers to think deeply and passionately about their talents and what they’re doing to build up other believers.